James Tomkins accuses Robin Van Persie

West Ham United defender James Tomkins has accused Manchester United striker Robin van Persie of deliberately elbowing him in the face.

Van Persie has been subjected to some criticism with his attitude over the last few years, but it has largely been dusted on the floor due to his impressive goalscoring form. This year, he has come under the spotlight for the wrong reasons more often than not.

After struggling with poor form earlier in the season, the player is looking at the prospect of being retrospectively punished for elbowing Tomkins in the face.

The West Ham player feels that the striker should have received a minimum of a yellow card for the incident. After Manchester United had managed a 1-1 draw with a late equaliser from Daley Blind, West Ham manager Sam Allardyce criticised the long ball tactics of the opposition. This has led to a war of words with Louis Van Gaal, who came up with an extensive list of statistics to show that it was West Ham – and not United – who were in the mood for hitting long throughout the 90 minutes. The incident surrounding van Persie went unnoticed by the referee and it is looking highly unlikely that the FA will charge him over the incident.

“The nose is a bit swollen. Fellaini was the second time in the match when I broke it. He has always got that about him when he goes up with his hands a lot.It is tough to say he does it deliberately, but with the Van Persie one, I think he had a look at me first and then he has gone for me. I think that was more malicious than the other one, even though I came out worse the second time. I think it was definitely a yellow at least but I don’t like to say that someone should have got sent off,” said Tomkins.